the discourse dynamics of empathy: initial findings from a focus group discussion
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The discourse dynamics of empathy: initial findings from a focus group discussion. Lynne Cameron and Robert Maslen The Open University. Empathy. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The discourse dynamics of empathy:initial findings from a focus group discussion
Lynne Cameron and Robert MaslenThe Open University
Empathy
Imagining what it is like to be someone other than yourself is at the core of our humanity. It is the essence of compassion, and it is the beginning of morality.
Ian McEwan, The Guardian, 15th September, 2001
Living with Uncertainty: Metaphor and the dynamics of empathy in discourse Funded by ESRC/AHRC Opening up possibilities for alternative
responses to uncertainty Research Fellowship with linked project
activities Phase 1: Perceptions of other people in times
of threat: Empathy and metaphor in focus group discussions
Approaches to empathy
Philosophy (e.g. Gadamer, 1982)
Psychotherapy (Wynn and Wynn, 2006)
Medicine (Halpern, 2007)
Neuroscience (Gallese, 2003, 2005; Iacoboni, 2005; Xu et al, 2009)
Psychology (Vorauer and Sasaki, 2009)
Literature and the arts (Harrison, 2008)
Conflict resolution, post-conflict reconciliation (Halpern and Weinstein, 2004)
Halpern and Weinstein (2004)
Development of empathy has three aspects Commonality through identification with Other Curiosity “imagining and seeking to understand the
perspective of another person” (p. 568)
Working definition
Emotional empathy Perspective taking Moral/ethical positioning Opening access to empathy
Research Question
How do focus groups use metaphor and other language strategies to construct, negotiate and resist empathy in respect of other social groups?
Data 12 focus groups with members of the public
Total participants: 96
Socio-economic status: AB = professional, skilled jobs C1/C2 = manual, semi- or unskilled jobs
AB
MenAB
WomenC1/C2
Men
C1/C2
WomenMuslim
MenMuslim Women
Total
Leeds 8 8 8 8 8 8 48
London 8 8 8 8 8 8 48
Metaphor Analysis
Transcription of audio recording to intonation units (Chafe, 1994; du Bois et al, 1993).
Identification of linguistic metaphor vehicles (Cameron, 2003) .. if they were living in some sort of stability, I would say it’s a flaw in the system
12,905 linguistic metaphors. Finding systematicity: constructing groups of
connected metaphors
Identifying systematic metaphorsTHE RISK OF TERRORISM IS A GAME OF CHANCEPEOPLE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER OUTCOMES
we get caught up in a poker game (London AB Men)
they will play the bluff (London AB Men)
the odds are very high (Leeds Muslim Women)
if your number’s up (London AB Men)
pawns in a game (Leeds CD Men)
Group differences
Men make more use than Women of gaming metaphors to talk about the risks of terrorism. ***
Muslim Men make much less use than non-Muslim Men. ***
Muslim Women make little or no use of these. **
Terry if they were that brave, .. surely they'd say <Q right, .. this is our team, .. that's your team, … crack on Q> []xx XXTerry but they don't,
.. because they hide in the woodwork.xx mm.xx mm.Finn well who's to --
who's -- who's <X to draw up X> the teams?
.. who's to say, which is the -- which is on -- who's on which team? (Cameron et al, 2009)
Building on the metaphor analysis
Adding deictic metaphors (here/there, this/that)
it’s not that these groups were not there,
they were there all the time,
they were there here in --
in England also.
Building on the metaphor analysis
SOCIAL LANDSCAPE metaphors Across previous vehicle groupings Landscape related Topics: social life, social groups
terrorism to me it’s a sneaky way
(the government is) moving away from the situation,
Other language strategies related to empathy across social groups
Explicit expression of empathy Perspective taking Narratives Scenarios Labelling Reference shifting
Findings (Muslim men in London)
101 scenarios and narratives 60% included perspective taking 160 instances of perspective taking Most perspective taking in or related to
scenarios and narratives Very few explicit expressions of empathy
Whose perspective?
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Am
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ans
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eeke
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oung
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raci
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ety
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ts
the
Wes
t
vict
ims
of s
tate
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oris
m
vict
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of te
rror
ism
whi
te
Labels
Individual people (13) Airey Neave, Bin Laden, Blair My children, my son
Labels
Groups (99) BNP, CIA, Home Office, Heads of State French, Iraqi, Pakistani, British Muslim, Hindu British Muslim, white Muslim, non-Muslim Criminals, bullies, skinheads, racists Joe Bloggs, that guy, any other British youngster,
the average bod
Labels
‘Social markers’ (19) Beards – clean-shaven, brown skin, cap, hijab,
shalwar kameez, rucksack, veil
Scenariomy children suddenly have realised,
that,
..not only they are British,
..they are British Muslims.
.. that is ..what has happened.
that suddenly they have realised,
<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.
..until now,
they were living,
… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.
..but now they particularly feel it.
..so that,
..age of innocence,
has suddenly.. disappeared.
Codamy children suddenly have realised,
that,
..not only they are British,
..they are British Muslims.
.. that is ..what has happened.
that suddenly they have realised,
<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.
..until now,
they were living,
… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.
..but now they particularly feel it.
..so that,
..age of innocence,
has suddenly.. disappeared.
Labellingmy children suddenly have realised,
that,
..not only they are British,
..they are British Muslims.
.. that is ..what has happened.
that suddenly they have realised,
<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.
..until now,
they were living,
… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster...but now they particularly feel it.
..so that,
..age of innocence,
has suddenly.. disappeared.
Metaphorsmy children suddenly have realised,
that,
..not only they are British,
..they are British Muslims.
.. that is ..what has happened.
that suddenly they have realised,
<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.
..until now,
they were living,
… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.
..but now they particularly feel it.
..so that,
..age of innocence, has suddenly.. disappeared.
Metaphors – social landscapemy children suddenly have realised,
that,
..not only they are British,
..they are British Muslims.
.. that is ..what has happened. s-lthat suddenly they have realised,
<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.
..until now,
they were living,
… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.
..but now they particularly feel it.
..so that,
..age of innocence, has suddenly.. disappeared. s-l
Perspective takingmy children suddenly have realised,
that,
..not only they are British,
..they are British Muslims.
.. that is ..what has happened.
that suddenly they have realised,
<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.
..until now,
they were living,
… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.
..but now they particularly feel it.
..so that,
..age of innocence,
has suddenly.. disappeared.
Empathymy children suddenly have realised,
that,
..not only they are British,
..they are British Muslims.
.. that is ..what has happened.
that suddenly they have realised,
<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.
..until now,
they were living,
… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.
..but now they particularly feel it.
..so that,
..age of innocence,
has suddenly.. disappeared.
my children suddenly have realised,
that,
..not only they are British,
..they are British Muslims.
.. that is ..what has happened.
that suddenly they have realised,
<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.
..until now,
they were living,
… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster.
..but now they particularly feel it.
..so that,
..age of innocence,
has suddenly.. disappeared.
my children suddenly have realised,
that,
..not only they are British,
..they are British Muslims.
.. that is ..what has happened. s-l that suddenly they have realised,
<Q oh I am a Muslim Q>.
..until now,
they were living,
… (2.0) as if they were any other British youngster...but now they particularly feel it...so that,
..age of innocence,
has suddenly.. disappeared. s-l
Closing remarks
Methods promising route to answering research question
Further work Apply to remaining 11 groups Compare findings Connect empirical findings to theoretical
model of empathy
Thank you Cameron, L. (2003) Metaphor in educational discourse. London: Continuum. Chafe, W. (1994) Discourse, Consciousness and Time. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Du Bois, John W., Stephan Schuetze-Coburn, Susanna Cumming, & Danae Paolino (1993). Outline of
discourse transcription. In Jane A. Edwards & Martin D. Lampert, eds., Talking data: Transcription and coding in discourse research. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 45-89.
Gadamer, H. (1982) Truth and Method. New York: Crossroad. Gallese V. (2003) The roots of empathy: The shared manifold hypothesis and the neural basis of
intersubjectivity. Psychopatology, Vol. 36, No. 4, 171-180, 2003. Gallese V. (2005) Embodied simulation: from neurons to phenomenal experience.
Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 4:23–48. Halpern, J. (2007) Empathy and patient physician conflicts. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22/5,
696-700. Halpern, J. and Weinstein, H. (2004) Rehumanising the other: empathy and reconciliation. Human Rights
Quarterly, 26, 561-583. Harrison, M. (2008). The paradox of fiction and the ethics of empathy: Reconceiving dickens's realism.
Narrative 16(3), 256-278. Iacoboni, M. (2005) Neural mechanisms of imitation, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 15:632-637 (2005). Vorauer, J. D., & Sasaki, S. J. (2009). Helpful only in the abstract? Ironic effects of empathy in intergroup
interaction. Psychological Science, 20, 191-197. Wynn, R. and Wynn, M. (2006) Empathy as an interactionally achieved phenomenon in psychotherapy: Characteristics of some conversational resources. Journal of Pragmatics, 38, 1385-
1397.